Carnarvon was witty, hospitable and extravagant; Samuel Pepys records his saying that God provides timber so that men may pay their debts. He rarely spoke on public affairs, but his intervention in the House of Lords debate on the impeachment of the Earl of Danby in 1678 may have been crucial. In a speech of great humour he drew examples going back over a century to show that managing the impeachment of another public figure was virtually a guarantee of being impeached oneself and cheerfully urged his peers to "see the man who first dares to run down Lord Danby and see what becomes of him". The Lords then voted not to commit Danby to prison until he had been heard in his own defence.

He was a friend of the future Queen Anne, and was one of the few who remained loyal to her after her violent quarrel with William and Mary in 1692 led to her banishment from Court. When Anne was reconciled with William after Mary's death in 1694, Carnarvon noted with cynicism the large crowds at her house, and said he hoped she would remember the time when none of them called on her.